116 THE LION. 



shot taking complete effect, the animal fell dead al- 

 most at his feet. No sooner was this formidable foe 

 thus disposed of, than a second, equally terrible, 

 made her appearance in the person of the lioness, 

 whom the General also shot at, and wounded so dan- 

 gerously, that she retreated into the thicket. As 

 her following so immediately in the footsteps of her 

 mate, afforded strong grounds for suspecting that 

 their den could not be far distant, he determined in 

 pursuing the adventure to the end, and traced her to 

 her retreat, where he completed the work of her de- 

 struction, by again discharging the contents of one 

 of the barrels of his rifle, which he had reloaded for 

 the purpose. In the den were found a beautiful 

 pair of cubs, male and female, supposed to be then 

 not more than three days old. These the general 

 brought away with him, and succeeded, by the as- 

 sistance of a goat, who was prevailed upon to act in 

 the capacity of foster-mother to the royal pair, in rear- 

 ing them until they attained sufficient age and strength 

 to enable them to bear the voyage to England." 



By great attention to cleanliness and feeding, and 

 the general health of the animal, the proprietors of se- 

 veral menageries, both in Britain and upon the conti- 

 nent, have succeeded in procuring litters from the lion- 

 ess in confinement * ; but at the shedding of the milk 

 teeth, many of the young have been lost. For the first 

 months they are very easily reared, and are remarka- 



* According to the French naturalists, the lioness goes 

 108 days with young. 



